2005-11-03 04:00:00 PDT Washington -- The Bush administration's policies for holding and detaining suspected terrorists came under sharp scrutiny and criticism Wednesday after disclosure that the CIA has set up covert prisons in several Eastern European democracies and other countries.

The U.N. special rapporteur on torture said he will seek more information about the covert prisons, referred to in classified documents as "black sites." Congressional Democrats and human rights groups warned that the secret system will damage the U.S. image overseas.

House Democrats said they plan to introduce a motion to endorse language in the defense spending package written by Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., that would bar cruel and inhuman treatment of prisoners in U.S. custody, including those in CIA hands. The motion would instruct House conferees to accept McCain's precise measure.

McCain's amendment was endorsed last month by the Senate, 90-9, over the objections of the White House, which said it would restrict the president's ability to protect the country.

The CIA and the White House are seeking language that would exempt prisoners held by the agency, which would include the 30 or so al Qaeda figures that sources said are being held in the black sites. Neither the White House nor the CIA will officially comment on the secret prison system, but intelligence officials have said in interviews that the arrangement is essential to gaining information about possible terrorist activities.

The Washington Post reported Wednesday that the CIA's covert detention system has at times established facilities in eight countries, including Thailand, Afghanistan and Cuba, at Guantanamo Bay. Those facilities are now closed. At the request of senior U.S. officials, the Post did not publish the names of Eastern European countries involved in the program.

The governments of Russia and Bulgaria issued statements saying no such facilities exist in their countries, Reuters reported. Thailand also denied hosting such a facility.

Wednesday, administration officials were buffeted by questions about the black sites.

"The fact that they are secret, assuming there are such sites, does not mean" torture would be tolerated there, national security adviser Stephen Hadley told reporters.

"Some people say that the test of your principles (is) what you do when no one's looking," he said. "And the president has insisted that whether it is in the public or it is in the private, the same principles will apply and the same principles will be respected. And to the extent people do not meet up, measure up to those principles, there will be accountability and responsibility."

Manfred Nowak, the U.N. special rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment, said he had heard allegations of secret detention facilities sponsored by the United States, but had not heard of any in Eastern Europe before Wednesday.

"Every secret place of detention is usually a higher risk for ill treatment. That's the danger of secrecy," Nowak said, adding that he wants to pursue access to all U.S. detention facilities outside its territory.

Nowak and his predecessor have been trying to gain access to the U.S. military detention facility at Guantanamo Bay since it opened in early 2002.